Welcome to the second instalment of my politics blog.
In this issue I’ll be tackling a tough topic: the intersectionality of gender and race, how these two factors influence operation of political systems, and this affects those getting involved in politics…
In my previous blog I touched on intersectionality, but for those of you who haven’t heard this term (or just need reminding what it means) here is a quick explanation for you! Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, it refers to the convergence of discrimination due to aspects of identity (Carastathis, A., 2016). An example, of which I will be discussing in this blog, is the amplified discrimination of someone identifying as female and of a minority racial/ethnic group; leading to an intersection of gender discrimination, and racial/ethnic discrimination.
Considering our current timeline of events, and the abhorrent human rights violations, including the current war in Ukraine, and the murder of George Floyd in 2020, discrimination in politics has been an increasingly troubling reality. I argue that race and gender are facets of identity that are often exploited and discriminated against in politics, to benefit those who already hold positions of political power.
The murder of George Floyd: a Black US man killed by a white police officer, is surely a sign that there is clear racial and ethnic discrimination among positions of political power, such as the police force. Reports of mental health after the murder of George Floyd reflect the affects of racial discrimination, with Black Americans reporting significant increases of anxiety and depression (Eichstaedt, J.C., et al. 2021). This racial discrimination is further amplified when considering the implications of gender and racial discrimination in criminal justice. In 2007 females constituted 70% of victims murdered by an intimate partner, and black females were twice as likely to be victims as their white counterparts (Catalano, S., et al. 2009). That isn’t even factoring in women of colour who are murdered by U.S. police officers, like Breonna Taylor was in 2020.
As a woman, I find these stats disgusting and completely disheartening, but as a white woman I cannot even begin to imagine how women of colour feel. This shows a clear intersection of racial and gender discrimination in the US criminal justice system and suggests a societal issue of structural racism and sexism within structures of power.
What does this mean for politics and how does it affect political engagement?
Following from the tragic murder of George Floyd, there was a large scale movement involving protests. Many protests followed the Black Lives Matter movement, with individuals rejecting the racist, violent treatment of people of colour, especially via social structures meant to protect them. The true effect of these protests can be seen via a study on perceived discrimination; the findings show, during the 2020 BLM protests, perceptions of discrimination against black Americans dramatically increased (Mutz, D.C. 2022). Among democrats and independents particularly, showing people felt black individuals were being discriminated against at a higher degree than their white counterparts. These perceptions became so strong that this likely had an effect on voting outcomes during the 2020 elections (Mutz, D.C. 2022); 11% of voters changed party preference when voting, of this group more people “defected” from Trump 2016 to Biden in 2020: 7.6%, than from Clinton 2016 to Trump in 2020: 3.2% (Mutz, D.C. 2022, pp 2).
Those who agreed that discrimination against the black community had increased were more likely to vote for the democratic party (Mutz, D.C. 2022), suggesting there is a current focus on politics and an active attempt to alter the course of this racial and sexist discrimination that was promoted under the Trump administration.
Despite this recent shift in awareness of intersectional discrimination in politics, there appears to still be discrimination and unequal representation in particular racial and gender groups when voting in elections…
Data reveals voting turnout for people identifying as white in the U.S. was much higher than those identifying in other racial groups. With a total of approximately 63.7% of the white population registering as having voted, compared to only 58.7% of the black population, and a staggering 38.8% of the Hispanic or Latino community (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021). These statistics show a clear imbalance in voter turnout dependent upon race, showing more white individuals registered as having voted in the 2020 election when compared to other racial groups.
Considering events of the past few years, it is understandable that people from minority ethnic groups feel alienated and disengaged from the U.S. political system, due to the inhumane racist actions of U.S. police forces, and the inauguration of the Trump administration in 2016. Considering the former president’s incredibly racist and sexist beliefs, including sexually assaulting multiple individuals in the past to stating that Mexican immigrants are “rapists, criminals and drug runners” (Embrick, D.G., et al, 2020, pp 203) it is understandable this would cause individuals to become disengaged from politics and discourage engagement. Interestingly, when comparing voting turnout, female individuals appeared to have voted in higher rates compared to their male counterparts in all three racial categories previously listed: white, black, Hispanic and Latino. hispanic/latino (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021). The largest difference
between gendered voting was among the black community, with 54.6% of men voting compared to 62.2% women (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021). Personally I am shocked by these stats, as I believed that due to misrepresentation and discrimination, women from marginalised ethnic groups in the U.S. would be less likely to politically engage and vote, however these stats are showing the opposite, but why?
What if the opposite is true? What if women of colour in the U.S. are becoming more politically engaged to fight back against the oppression and increased marginalisation introduced during the Trump campaign? (Locke, M.E., 2022). Whilst women of colour often face amplified discrimination in many societies globally, women have been shown to become more politically active in times of societal transition (Wilford, R., Miller, R. L., 1998), perhaps to stop the perpetual cycle of discrimination women of colour face in political systems throughout the globe. Perhaps having more women of colour correctly represented in politics and included without discrimination, we can begin to achieve a level of equality the people are deserving of.
Word Count: 1099
REFERENCES:
- Carastathis, A. (2016) Intersectionality : origins, contestations, horizons. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (Expanding frontiers, interdisciplinary approaches to studies of women, gender, and sexuality).
- Catalano, S., et al. (2009) Female victims of violence, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programmes.
- Eichstaedt, J.C., et al. (2021) The emotional and mental health impact of the murder of George Floyd on the US population. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(39).
- Embrick, D.G., et al. (2020) Capitalism, racism, and Trumpism: Whitelash and the politics of oppression. Fast Capitalism, 17(1).
- Locke, M.E. (2022) The Perils of Populism, Racism, and Sexism: The Trump Lesson Plan for African Americans and Women. In Get Your Knee Off Our Necks (pp. 83-110). Springer, Cham.
- Mutz, D.C. (2022) Effects of changes in perceived discrimination during BLM on the 2020 presidential election. Science Advances, 8(9), p.eabj9140.
- United States Census Bureau. (2021) Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2020, Census.Gov. Accessed at: https://www.census.gov. Accessed on: 17/03/22
- Wilford, R. and Miller, R. L. (1998) Women, ethnicity and nationalism : the politics of transition. London: Routledge. Accessed at: ebookcentral.proquest. Accessed on: 22/03/22
I think this was an incredibly important and well-argued blog. Intersectionality especially in the U.S has been severely lacking. Further, your point about intersectional voting patterns has I think contributed to Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016 with the lack of democratic support for her, I think many women of colour, me included, viewed her as a more white feminist in political leadership.
Hello, Katie. Your blog was well-written and thought-provoking. It was interesting to learn that people who are actively involved in their country’s political activities are more likely to vote for politicians who support and denounce the same issues they are fighting for.
Further to your point about intersectionality, during the 2016 Trump election, many women of colour felt that they could not relate to Hillary Clinton despite the fact that she was also a woman, and this is where intersectionality comes in because women of colour have often felt that they could not relate to feminism because it is primarily catered to white women, and they feel that feminism does not take into account the fact that not only do women of colour have to worry about gender discrimination, but they also have to worry about racism.